Rob Manfred and President Donald Trump held a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, and spokesman for MLB Confirmed by the Washington Post.
“President Trump has been a longtime baseball fan. As he has done in the past, Commissioner Manfred was pleased to visit the White House again to discuss baseball-related issues with the president,” MLB said in a statement.
Details of their meeting have not been revealed, but the visit from Manfred comes shortly after Trump’s comments about Pete Rose, MLB’s greatest hit leader of all time.
On February 28, 78-year-old Trump posted the news on social media, saying he plans to issue a posthumous pardon to Rose, who died in September at 83.
“Over the next few weeks, I’m signing Pete Rose’s full pardon, who should have put a bet on the team’s victory, not gambling in baseball,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump did not reveal exactly what he would forgive Rose as the 17th All-Star was convicted of a crime in gambling in the MLB game.
Rose pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served in prison for five months in 1990, but Trump did not specifically mention this belief when referring to pardons.
Manfred, 66, announced on March 1 that MLB was considering a petition that allowed Rose to qualify for the Hall of Fame.
This latest development came as a major shift in opinion from Manfred, who previously revealed that there was zero intention to give consideration to the Rose Hall of Fame.
“When you bet on baseball, from a major league baseball perspective, I believe you are on the list of ineligible forever,” Manfred said in November 2022. According to Athletics. “When I addressed this issue, when he last applied for recovery, I made it clear that I didn’t think the baseball list function was the same as the Hall of Fame eligibility criteria.
“That’s what I’m in. I think it’s really a conversation that belongs to the Hall of Fame committee. I’m on that board. It’s not appropriate for me to get into that conversation.”
Trump has criticized MLB for putting Rose on its ineligible list. In other words, Rose has been disqualified from being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Baseball dying everywhere should get off its fat, lazy ass and even if it’s too late, choose Pete Rose to the Baseball Hall of Fame!” Trump wrote about the Truth Society in February.
